New Art Installation Makes Music Out of Bitcoin Trades

Crypto-currencies like bitcoin and litecoin enjoy a brisk pace of trading activity. But what does all that cyber wheeling and dealing look like? Better yet, what does it sound like? A new art installation in Moscow takes all that raw data and transforms it into musical notes, making melody out of global finance.

Silk is the brainchild of Dmitry Morozov, a Russian sound artist who goes by “vtol”. It tracks real-time data of global trading in bitcoin and litecoin, via strings strung diagonally between two poles which are “plucked” by motorised robotic “fingers”. Each string corresponds to one of five currencies: the US dollar, the yuan, the ruble, the euro, and the Canadian dollar.

“As Bitcoin and Litecoin cryptocurrencies fluctuate in value against the more traditional currencies, the imagined monetary values generate new melodies and rhythms. Recalling both the controversial recent silk road and its historical analog, these silk strings form a mythological musical song.”